


From the Shadows

by olivemartini



Series: Kit's Explorations of the Institutes, With the Help of Ty [1]
Category: Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance, first meeting sort of, hidden moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 16:27:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6431758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kit's trying to leave his bedroom for the first time since he's gotten to the Institute and realizes he has no clue where to go.  Thankfully, Ty is there to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Shadows

The Institute is a much scarier place at night. 

Kit hasn't seen anything but the inside of his bedroom since he first got here.  He'd made good on his promise to stay in his room, only opening the door enough for one of the shadowhunters (the beautiful one who had held a knife to his throat) to shove a change of clothes into his arms, but now he wished he had said yes to Julian's offer for a tour of the large building he was now forced to call home.  He had always prided himself on being brave and independent, but now that he stood in his bedroom doorway, searching for demons that might be hiding in the darkness and hands balled into fists to stop shaking, he realized that he had never felt more like a child than he did at that moment.

He wanted, more than anything, to run to the bedroom of someone older than him and pound on the door, demanding that they wake up and take the nightmarish images from his imagination away from him.  He wanted to be young again, so young that if his father were alive he could crawl into someone's bed and hear murmured reassurances until he fell asleep.  He wanted, for once in his life, to have someone's hand to hold.  Which was absurd, because it wasn't like his father had every offered that kind of protection.  If Kit had shown up in his room he was much more likely to be sent away with a kick or a slap than to be comforted, and the only bed time stories he ever got were always warped, with the princess dying bloody and demons in every corner and the princes were always cowards. 

The hallway in front of him was dark.  There were shadows stretching out in front of him, places where the long walk looked darker and more ominous than others, where any number of things could be lying in wait to attack him.  Unwanted, the memory of those creatures that had invaded his home rose up behind his eyes and he fought the urge to slam the door closed and dive back under the covers.  Bad things might hide in the dark yes, but Kit could take them.  He was a Rook.  He was a shadowhunter, and brave, and had walked down streets that were in much more dangerous locations that this damn hallway.  But as he took a tentative step forward, wincing as the floor underneath his foot let out a groan, he had to admit that he was scared. 

He only made it a few steps before he fell, tripping over a lump in the darkness.  He went down hard, landing on his back with enough force to take his breath away.  A figure was rising up above him, holding something in his hand, surely about to bring it down on his head or through his heart to finish what the demons had failed to do.  Kit scrambled back, yelling, fingers searching behind him in an effort to find something to use as a weapon.  The now familiar feeling of panic was welling in his chest, and he was sure that in another minute he was going to start crying- until yellow beams of light began to glow from his assailant's fingers, revealing the young shadowhunter boy he had met a lifetime ago, looking as afraid as Kit felt.  The "weapon" in his hand was only a book, which Kit could see was a Sherlock Holmes story.  "What the hell, dude?"

"I-I'm sorry."  Ty stood there, clutching onto his book, still looking scared.  Scared of _him,_ Kit realized, and felt bad for yelling.  "I was waiting outside your door, in case you needed anything.  I didn't think you would know where to go if you wanted help."  Ty stuck a hand out to help Kit to his feet, like it just occurred to him that it would be the right thing to do.  "I fell asleep, and you tripped over me when you walked out."

"Did I hurt you?"  Kit liked that Ty talked like he didn't assume there would be any need for his assistance at all.  Like Kit had this all under control.  "Have you been here this whole time?"

"Since you got here, yes." If Ty knew that some people might find this strange, he gave no sign of it. 

"Oh." 

They both stood staring at each other.  Ty's eyes darted around before returning to Kit's face, like he wasn't sure he had permission to look at him, or wasn't yet entirely certain about looking him in the eye.  Kit, on the other hand, was staring at him in a way he wouldn't normally have even considered, drinking in the sight of him- the fidgeting fingers, the thin but muscled frame, curly hair dark hair that fell just past his ears, and eyes that reminded him of storm clouds gathering in an otherwise clear sky.  "Did you need something?"

Kit thought about saying no and going back to his bed.  But the idea of doing that after he had spent so many hours torturing himself with the same twisted thoughts was unbearable.   More than anything, he wanted to sit and talk to Ty.  "I was going to try and find my way around the Institute.  Maybe steal some food."

"I can show you the way."  Ty set off down the hall, clearly relieved to have something about the situation he could fix.  He got halfway down the hall before he realized Kit wasn't following.  "Are you coming?  I can bring you a sandwich if you'd rather stay in your room."

"I'm not that hungry, actually.  It just felt like something I should do."  Kit sat down and leaned against the wall.  "It's too dark, anyways."

He had his eyes closed, so it wasn't until Ty's shoulder bumped against his that Kit realized the shadowhunter had sat down beside him.  "Are you afraid of the dark?"

"No."  Kit laughed.  "I love the dark, normally.  But not tonight."  Ty was silent, and he kept talking, desperate to prove that he wasn't a child that needed to be taken care of.  "I had always known about this part of the world, but it never occurred to me what kind of stuff could be hiding in the dark.  I don't like not knowing what I'm getting myself into."  And right now, Kit thought, he had absolutely no clue what he was getting into.

"You shouldn't worry.  We've got wards in the institute, so no demons can make it past the door.  And the only place a Downworlder-vampires, warlocks, faeries, werewolves, and such- can even stand is the Sanctuary, and even then they need our permission to enter.  So you're safe. Even if something were to come and attack you, I would kill it. Of course, there's always Uncle Arthur to watch out for, but he's just angry."  There was pain in that last sentence, so carefully hidden you could only notice if you were trained to look for it.  Kit wanted to ask, but figured he would find out soon enough.  "And if you need to see where you're going, you can use this."  He pressed the glowing ball (which turned out to be a rock) into Kit's hand.  "It's witchlight.  Only shadowhunters can use it.  That way if you need to go on any nighttime adventures, you'll be able to find your way around."

"Thank you."   Kit wanted to say more, but didn't know the words to adequately express his gratitude.  He thought that he should go somewhere, either off into the dark to explore or back to his room, but he couldn't make himself move. He wanted to stay here, with Ty's arm brushing his whenever he moved and the glow of the witchlight bouncing off the walls.  He wanted to have something else to focus on then the look on his father's face as he died, something to keep him sane when his entire life had been revealed as a lie, even if it was just listening to Ty click his pen.  He was just hoping Ty wouldn't get up and leave before he got brave enough to make it through the night on his own.


End file.
